Katie...
"When life gives you lemons, squeeze those $%#@ers to the pulp".-Jon Gilson
Q. Dear Josh. I know you have worked with athletes for a really long time. I read your blog, and see all the testimonies. I received the diet I requested and after I lost fourteen pounds in three weeks I was thrilled. However, I ventured again to a standing chiropractor appointment I have twice a month. It was the first time in years I didn't feel like I needed it. He asked where all my success was coming from, and to make a long story short, I showed him my diet. He said my brain would not work with my carbs so low. I know you wouldn't hurt people, but this scared me....help? Laurie.
A. Well, Laurie, I'm happy for your success on the diet, and glad you're asking questions instead of living life at face value or via others' opinions...which is exactly what your chiropractor is giving - his opinion. While it may seem like sacrilege to most people living the average American life, it's all to easy to thrive - not just survive - while eating little to no carbohydrates every day. Here's how it works.
Before I begin, realize this is a two-parter that should be reviewed frequently. I could, seriously, go on and on about this for a very long time, but have tried to hit some highlights. I'll do my best to keep it simple, yet necessary.
In The Beginning:
I love starting shit that way. Makes me feel all biblically squishy on the inside. But before we get to now, let's look at then. Our ancestors. Our cavemen. The first immutable argument. The best place to learn about today's nutrition is not to study the health and nutritional sciences. It's to study anthropology. The study of human cultures and development.
Looking back, it's evident we were not in the presence of unlimited sources of carbs everyday. Ancient man didn't have cereal, whole grains, granola bars or snack packs. They didn't have vegetarians either, but that's another post. What they did have was whatever they killed, and to say that they were unhealthy is a more than a lie...it's blasphemy.
It's absurd to think caveman had blood sugar issues, multiple meals, or any real disorder we face today. And their brains survived on many fewer carbs than most of us do today. And if you think their brains didn't work remember, those guys discovered fire all we did was captilize on it.
The majority of our ancestors encountered times or "seasons" of famine, or little to no-food. They experienced very limited times of feasting. On the rare ocassion they were in a constantly fed state, they got fat, especially if it came from carbs. As humans, we are awarded a biological system that let's us adapt to eating too many carbs by gaining fat, attaining high blood pressure, and becoming pre-diabetic. These responses occur naturally, and are actually vital activities before an extended hibernation. Our ancestors feasted 20% of the year. They fasted 80% of it. They were fine with no carbs, but we don't even know remember what that's like.
Carbivores:
Laurie, from the standpoint of your well-meaning adjuster, I'm very sure that for him, and others like him, he's right. Most likely he kills well over 150g of carbs a day, and has produced a body that runs on sugar, not fat as we would like. As an aside, all carbohydrates become glucose somehow...slow-carb diets, complex carbs and polysacharides (many sugars) are all bullshit with cute names. Remember, whether table sugar or whole grains, they all are reduced to glucose.
When you constantly ingest an energy substrate, meaning something that must be burned before other stuff will, you become accustomed to it. Read that again. I didn't say efficient at it, I said "accustomed" to it. There is a shit ton of difference there. Carbohydrates are big time energy substrates, and will always be burned of before body fat or muscle mass.
Simply eating a small amount of veggies, or the trace amount of carbs in nuts and such will produce only enough insulin to quickly shuttle glucose to the liver where it can be stored as glycogen for energy between meals. Glucose not absorbed by the liver feed red blood cells and the brain, but they run on an incredibly limited amount if we ask them to. The rest is stored within the muscles for energy on demand when we're active. All of this requires very, very few, if any, carbohydrates after you have achieved The Shift which we will cover tomorrow. All the other unnecessary carbs not utilized are stored as body fat. No-carbers go back to functioning like our ancestors, and are rewarded with health abounding. Carbivores stand around saying "that can't work."
I Did Yours, And Mine. What Did You Do?
In the 10+ years I have been living the diets I RXD, not just talking about them, I have tried everything. High carb-lowfat, Atkins-ish, 10,000cal/day, 30% of daily calories from coconut oil, vegetarianism (30 days that sucked), Ketogenic, super-high protein low-fat, no fat/high protein, Zone, and of course Paleo.
After giving them all an honest shot, nothing is comparable to a Paleo diet that is also Ketogenic. Be it for general health, optimal physical performance, or even mentally acuity, a Ketogenic Paleo diet wins hands down.
In fact, I have maintained a Ketogenic Paleo plan without a single variety day for over 20 weeks. Nothing, not a drip. Not a single day have I ventured above 50 grams of carbs, and most days were well under that. I did five blood markers before this little experiment, and the same five just a few weeks ago. Twenty weeks ago, my blood work was golden. 17 weeks ketogenic without a real carb in sight...I'm still golden.
And I ain't the smartest dude on the block, but it seems to me if I'm still writing like a tattooed Emerson on speed, WODing like a Ninja, and recovering like someone 10 years younger, all the while my insides look like the Holy Grail, how the %$# can I, or tons like me, be wrong? Oh yeah, that's right. The scientific method is repeatable. Well, everyone who has done this raise your hand. There's your survey, survey naysayers. No-carbers, you can put your hands down now. In fact, you better conserve your energy. You're not supposed to live without carbs, remember.
Here is why I have the credentials to say this. I tried "their" way...for a long time. I tried "other" ways...for a long time. I am doing it my way now, and others are too, and the results speak for themselves. My credentials are trying the shit I RXD, making mistakes and never assuming I'm right...I prove myself right while proving "them" wrong. Until others do that, my credentials will always trump theirs.
Hangovers and Insulin:
Alcoholics function with a constant clouded hangover. They don't know another way. And after doing it long enough, they just get used to a shitty life. Carbivores are the same way. In fact, alcohol is just a carb addiction, the fastest one there is. Why do you think they serve donuts and candy at AA meetings?
One may argue, "Well, can't I just eat 130g of carbs a day to fuel my brain?" The answer is no, you diet negotiator. All food stimulates insulin...everything. It's just some do so more than others...way more. Carbs, especially, make the pancreas secrete insulin. How much is dictated by the amount ingested, and even by our own chemistry of being sensitive or resistant to insulin.
Insulin, as we have covered before, will mop up the extra glucose and stay in the blood until all that blood sugar is shuttled off somewhere nice. The whole time you're being bathed in insulin, preventing fat from being burned, aging drastically, and creating a breeding ground for little more than survival...and that's if you're lucky. We don't want survival; we want success.
The quality of your life is directly related to how well you manage insulin, and insulin is directly effected by the amount of carbs you consume. What we are trying to do by advocating a Ketogenic Paleo diet is quell the release of insulin, stimulate the burning of fat for fuel, and prompt glucogon to release the nutrients we store.
Join us for Part Two tomorrow where we'll discuss in detail just how your brain keeps on functioning with no ingested carbs, how our bodies learn to utilize fat for fuel, and a concept few others will ever believe...Carbs are for fat people walking on treadmills, and diabetics who have their cake and eat it too.
Strength:
Rest
For Score:
1-Rope Climb
15-Wall Ball
15-Hand Release Push-ups
15-Double Unders
AMRAP 20 Minutes
Post reps and rounds to comments.
